Feng Shui Basics for Absolute Beginners

Follow These 9 Simple Rules and You’ll Be Ahead of the Feng Shui Game

It’s simple but it’s true: if you love where you live and you feel good when you’re home, you have good feng shui.

And, if you’re wondering how you can love your home even more, there are a number of totally accessible feng shui basics that can help you get there.

For example, here are some major feng shui principles you can employ yourself – super easily, and right away.

1. Clear your clutter!

If you don’t love it, don’t use it, or don’t need it, get rid of it! This is perhaps the best feng shui tip of all. Your outer environment reflects your inner environment and vice versa: clearing clutter will clear the way for the things and qualities you’d most like to experience.

2. Concentrate on comfort, safety, and convenience.

Here’s another absolute feng shui basic: when you feel comfortable and safe, and when everything in your home is convenient and easy to find, your whole life will feel easy and harmonious.

3. Learn your bagua.

The bagua is the feng shui map that looks like a tic-tac-toe board, which shows you which area of your home is associated with which area of your life. And it’s not that tricky to find out what yours is. Here’s a blog post on how to do just that.

4. Choose imagery wisely.

Feng shui reminds us that imagery is powerful. In our homes, it works its way into our psyches and begins to play itself out in the physical world. So be sure to choose images that depict and/or give you the feeling of the types of things you’d like to experience. (Hot tip: this principle works perfectly with the “learn your bagua” suggestion above – place intentional imagery in accordance with the respective bagua area of the home.)

5. Pay special attention to your front door.

In feng shui, the front door is known as the “the mouth of chi.” (Chi is life force energy.) In other words, it’s where the blessings and abundance enter your home and your life. So be sure your front door feels as welcoming and spiffy as you can possibly make it!

6. Make sure all your plants are vibrantly healthy.

Once again, feng shui reminds us of what we already know: if you think about it, a not-so-healthy plant is an affirmation of not-so-good health. It can cause us to feel low energy and can bring our spirits down. On the other hand, a healthy, vibrant plant nourishes our health and uplifts our spirit. So if you just can’t seem to support a plant in just the right way, and you’ve tried your very best, it’s probably time to let it go.

7. Keep your toilet lid closed.

Perhaps you’ve heard this perennial feng shui wisdom: keep your toilet lid closed when not in use. Open toilets are not only literally less healthy than closed ones, they also feel like a symbolic energy drain in a bathroom. (Although I don’t recommend allowing this to be a topic of contention with recalcitrant family members. If it doesn’t go over well with someone in your household, just close it when you can and otherwise let it go! Peace is more important.)

8. Fix all leaks right away.

Feng shui teaches that leaks are not just literally leaking resources (i.e. water and money), they also translate into leaking energy and leaking financial flow. So fix those leaks!

I've got one question… when I made the diagram of my floor plan and made the tic-tac-toe shape over it there is a whole 'section' (gratitude and prosperity) that is just, well, out in the backyard! What do we do when one of the squares is off in Neverland?

Hi Amber! Can you complete the space by planting a tree, or adding a statue, fountain, or light to the furthest corner of your diagram (out in the backyard)? You can also delineate the area by planting a border of a garden. Or, if none of those are possible, you can bury a pointed quartz crystal, point-side up, in that corner to symbolically complete the space and bring in the prosperity energy. Will any of those work? PS – thanks for reading!

I bought Magical Housekeeping a few days ago and its just what I needed to get inspired and motivated. I have started with the clutter and orienting myself for work and sleep in a power position and already feel the flow of energy improving.

However, I am a bit stuck with my map. My apartment is not quite a rectangle (part of it is the outside hallway). Do I make my grid a square made up of 9 equal squares or rectangle with 9 rectangles? If its squares based on the center of my apartment, then part of my mapis on the street and another apartment – which does not make sense to me.

Hi S! Yes, the map can be a tricky thing. Your instinct about the rectangles is right on: nine equal rectangles. Although, the outside hallway will still fall into a bit of your map, which is totally cool (I actually have the same thing). You just want to get an idea of how the energy pools. I hope this answers your question!

It does. Thank you. I was thinking of doing some discrete things in the apartment building hallway to encourage good energy flow. Perhaps with essential oils, scents or leaving some bits of dried herbs. Part of the hallway falls in my area of creativity and play so dancing about and clapping when no one is looking might be fun! Thankfully, the superintendent sweeps and washes the floor weekly and it is quite clean.

Hi Tess, I just moved into a beautiful, century- old, stone farmhouse. The energy here is one of serenity, loving, loving , loving it! Thank you for your beautiful article in the Llewellen Magical Almanac. Awesome! My number 1. falls in the area that encompasses my front door(which is never used in the winter)and the entrance porch that is enclosed. Any thoughts would be welcomed and much appreciated! Angel hugs,Ann

Hi Ann! Congrats on the new space, and glad you liked the article! When you don't use your front door to enter and exit, perhaps open it at least 5 days out of the week to get the mail, water plants, or just to say a quick invocation/prayer to invite in blessings. In fact, perhaps I'll write a blog post about this soon. Thanks for the idea, and for reading.

Greetings!

Hi! I'm Tess Whitehurst, and I believe LIFE IS MAGICAL. If you believe that too, you've found yourself in the right place. So grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea, settle in, and explore my FREE magical library (also known as my blog) to your heart's content! You might also like to check out my other offerings, such as my award-winning books, online classes, certification course, and more.[Read More]